This page contains an expanding list of individuals and family groups with a link to the rural settlement of Sandford and its surrounding area near the junction of the Wannon & Glenelg Rivers in south-western Victoria, Australia. This area, referred to as "Australia Felix" by surveyor and explorer Major Thomas MITCHELL in 1836, was first settled permanently by the HENTY brothers in 1837 when they moved inland from Portland on the south coast and occupied the Pastoral Runs of "Connell's Run", "Merino Downs", "Muntham" & "Sandford".

The township of Sandford appears to have started in 1856 or 1857, with the Branxholme to Casterton railway coming through Sandford in 1884.

BOWDEN : John BOWDEN 1829-1866, (b. Wiltshire, son of ___, m. Mary Ann COUZENS in Geelong, chn near Wicklife and "Muntham" Station, buried in the Sandford Cemetery. His widow Mary Ann then m. John BELLINGER of Carapook in 1870.)

BRAHAM : Rebecca BRAHAM 1825-1907, b. Suffolk, England, daughter of William BRAHAM & Sarah KNIGHT, m. Thomas LEWIS in Van Diemen's Land, he worked at "Muntham" & "Merino Downs" Stations, Edenhope & Bahgallah, he is buried in the Sandford Cemetery, she was living at Strathdownie and died in Mount Gambier.

BURNS : Rosetta Blanche BURNS 1882-1950, (b. "Koolomert" Station, married William John CRAIG of Sandford, chn at Sandford, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

BUSHELL : John Richard BUSHELL 1905-1917, (son of Patrick BUSHELL & Catherine DREW of Wurt Wurt Koort, buried in the Sandford Cemetery. He may be the g'son of Edward DREW, also buried in the Sandford Cemetery, aged 79y in 1914.)

CHAPMAN : Albert Edward CHAPMAN c1896-198), (from London, his father was born at Colac, Victoria, at Sandford, Victoria when he enlisted in WW1, served with the 8th Light Horse Regiment, AIF, d. Melbourne.)

CLEARY : Ellen CLEARY ~1821-1904, dau. of Patrick CLEARY & ___ LEHANE from Co Cork was married to John COX ~1825-1889. John COX was a farmer at Sandford when he died in 1889. Ellen remarried in 1892 to Andrew IRVINE ~1840-1905, labourer of Sandford. Ellen is buried with her first husband in the Casterton New Cemetery.)

COOK : John Thomas COOK 1856-1940, (b. Dartmoor, Victoria, m1. 1881 to Mary Jane POTTER from South Australia, 4 chn at Minyip and Sandford, she died 1887, Sandford. John remarried in 1888 to Elizabeth DOUGLAS from Merino, widow of Francis RAYNOR, 2 chn at Sandford, family moved to Temora, NSW.)

CORDNER : Robert CORDNER 1834-1897 (b. Ireland, m. 1855, Belfast Nth Ireland, to Ellen HOSSACK, chn in the Merino & Sandford area 1857-1873, moved to Kaniva area in the Wimmera.)

CORRIE : Unity CORRIE 1839-1908, (b. Ireland, dau of ___, m. George SOUTHERN who eas Innkeeper "Sandford Hotel" 1860s, Innkeeper "Woolpack Inn" Digby, 1870s, chn at Creswick, Sandford & Digby. Where did George go after 1881..............? Unity took over the "Woolpack Inn" from 1881 until it burnt in 1887, aftre which she was gaoled for arson, died Ballarat.)

COTTER : Catherine COTTER 1862-1945, (b. Carapook, married in 1892 to James SOMERVILLE of Sandford, 3 chn at Casterton 1893-1902, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

COX : John COX ~1825-1889, (b. England, son of George COX & Mary Ann SUTTON married to Ellen CLEARY ~1821-1904, dau. of Patrick CLEARY & ___ LEHANE from Co Cork. John COX was a farmer at Sandford when he died in 1889.)

COXON : George COXON, 1822-1892, (Mining Engineer from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Durham, England, m1. Mary DODGSON, they arrived in 1857 with 7 children, worked in the Victorian Goldmines, m2, Jane Louisa LAW, nee FRASER. George died at Portland, and with 1st wife buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

DREW : Edward DREW ~1834-1914, (died Henty, son of Timothy ? DREW, buried in the Sandford cemetery aged 79y in 1914. He may be the g'father of John Richard BUSHELL, aged 12y, died at Henty, also buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

DRUMMOND : David DRUMMOND 1829-1870, (b. Scotland, m. Margaret WATSON, chn at Geelong, Sandford & Coleraine, was drowned along with some of his children in the Coleraine flood of 1870.)

DUCRET : Theodore DUCRET 1901-?, (birth listed at Sandford but appears that it should be Stratford, Gippsland where other chn were born to Alfred DUCRET & Christina Margaret RILEY.)

DUFF : William DUFF ~1822-?. (William married Mary Ann POWER at "Cashmere" Station in 1853 and had 3 chn (William, John & Bridget) at Wando Vale and "Spring Bank" Stations in the 1850s. William disappears, reported to have been taken by aborigines, Mary Ann remarried to William DAVEY in 1862 and George HERBERT in 1877. Where did she go to....?)

EDWARDS : Richard EDWARDS ~1843-1873, (b. England, buried in the Sandford Cemetery, is he linked to another EDWARDS family?)

EGAN : Annie Agnes EGAN ca 1846-1921, (b. Geelong, dau of John EGAN & Mary DALEY, married James McLOON, he was buried in the Sandford Cemetery in 1877, she then married Edward MAGAN in 1882, child buried in the Sandford Cemetery, she was the Licensee of the "Halfway House" Hotel at Lake Mundi in the 1880s, she d. 1921, Riverton, South Australia)

EGAN : Margaret EGAN c.1843-?, (b. Victoria, dau of John EGAN & Mary DALEY, of Sandford when she married Michael Patrick WARREN, farmer of Sandford in 1876. Where did they go.......?)

EGAN : Maria / Mary Ann EGAN c1840-1913, (there appears to be BARBY or BARKLEY chn born to James Henry BARBY or DYSON and Maria / Mary Ann EGAN who are buried in the Sandford Cemetery. She appears to have died in Sandford in 1913 as Mary DYSON, wife of Henry Samuel DYSON ????)

GIDDENS : Charlotte GIDDENS 1816-1886, (b. Cambridge, England, m. James WHEATER, chn at Coleraine & Macarthur, buried in the Sandford Cemetery. James WHEATER, an old brickmaker had died near "Muntham" in 1880.)

GILL : James Bruce GILL 1849-1918, (b. Aberdeenshire, Scotland, son of David GILL & Margaret MITCHELL. He m. 1885, Warrnambool, Vic to Ruth PENNYCUICK and was owner of "Runnymede Station" in 1885, buried in the Casterton Cemetery. James GILL was a younger brother of famous Scottish Astronomer Sir David GILL 1843-1914)

GREED : Annie Sophia GREED 1851-1923, (b. Somerset, m. 1872, John HOLMES, chn at Sandford 1873-1891, buried in the Sandford Cemetery, members of the HOLMES family were millers at Byaduk, Sandford and Casterton)

HAGGESTTON : Joseph HAGGESTTON c1818-1907, (Joseph HAGGESTTON built the first Sandford Hotel in partnership with Thomas WALKER in 1856, license issued in 1857, perhaps until as late as 1872. HAGGESTTON & WALKER along with Hugh GLANCY also held the "Rifle Ranges" Pastoral Lease in 1859.)

HAWDON : Joseph HAWDON 1813-1871, Overlander, who owned the mob of cattle, drove a tandem gig with Lt Alfred MUNDY, followed the route of Charles BONNEY who drove the first cattle overland to Adelaide via the coast route. Camped at HENTY's station, junction of Wannon & Glenelg rivers, July 1839.

HENTY : HENTY Family, (Sons of Thomas HENTY 1775-1839 & Frances HOPKINS 1777-1848, from West Tarring, Sussex, settled in the Swan River Colony, then Van Diemen's Land and then Portland Bay in 1834. Took up the pastoral leases of "Connell's Run", "Merino Downs", "Muntham" and "Sandford" from 1837.)

HENTY : John HENTY 1813-1868, (b. 1813, Sussex, m. 1837 Eliza WHITFIELD, settled at "Merino Downs" in 1837, moved to "Sandford House" in 1842, moved to Warrnambool & Bolwarra, left his family and went to Western Australia in 1866 where he died in 1868.)

HILL : Charles William HILL 1851-1925, (b. England, son of John HILL & Isabella RENNIE, m. 1877, Macarthur, Vic, to Phoebe LAW 1846-1936. Charles was a teacher at Byaduk SS in 1883, later at Sandford SS, then Lilydale SS, died Melbourne.)

HOLMES : John HOLMES 1848-1927, (b. England, son of George HOLMES & Jane TYERS, m. Annie Sophia GREED, chn at Sandford 1873-1891, buried in the Sandford Cemetery, members of the HOLMES family were millers at Byaduk, Sandford and Casterton.)

HOLT : Mary Ann HOLT 1861-1918, b. Sandford to John HOLT & Jessie McDONALD, m. in 1903 at Melbourne to William McINNES 1833-1930 after death of his 1st wife. William & Mary Ann McINNES both died at Geelong, Vic.

HUMPHRIES : Charles HUMPHRIES 1815-1898 (Patriarch of the large HUMPHRIES family from "Gum Creek" and Sandford, married Caroline SAMPSON in Gloucestershire, 15 chn from 1846-1871, buried in the Sandford Cemetery)

HUTCHESON : David HUTCHESON ~1790-c1830, (David was a Miller, b. and d. in Scotland, his widow Isabella and chn emigrated to Van Diemen's Land in 1833 and then to "Runnymede" Station near Sandford in 1845.)

HYLAND : Patrick "Pat" HYLAND (b. c.1821, Co Tipperay, Ireland, m. Elizabeth DARCY, Overseer on "Hilgay Station" and for Edward HENTY on "Muntham Station", purchased the "Sandford Hotel" from Capt, WARDLEY for a short while c.1859 and he sold it to Charles GRINHAM by the end of 1859, d. Hamilton in 1884.)

INGRAM : George INGRAM 1816-1903, b. Birmingham, England, m. Louisa ADAMS 1831-1910, at the Parsonage-on-the-Wannon, S-W Victoria in 1854, 8 ch'n born at Harrow but the birth of a son Charles was registered at Sandford in 1862. 2 daughters married sons of George MERCER 1838-1886 of Casterton.)

JACKSON : William JACKSON ~1810-1862, (b. London, son of Henry JACKSON & Ann PAYNTER, m. ___, Carpenter with John Pascoe FAWLKNER's party to settle Melbourne, purchased "Sandford House" from John HENTY in 1847 along with his brother Samuel, d. London.)

JUSTIN : Susan JUSTIN 1818-1860, (Wife of James ASHLEY, living in a tent at Sandford in 1859, witnesses at the inquest into the death at Sandford of Charles GREENHAM in 1859, she d. 1860, buried in the Casterton Old Cemetery.)

KILPATRICK : Ann KILPATRICK 1826-1903, (b. Edinburgh, married John Scott GRANT in 1841, Edinburgh, large family, he built the "Caledonian Union Hotel" at Sandford in 1857, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

LOWE : James LOWE ~1837-1919, (b. Yorkshire, m1. Hannah WHITE, chn in South Australia 1859-1871 and Sandford, 1873, Hannah buried in the Sandford Cemetery. James LOWE m2. 1877 to Bertha CLEE 1860-1937, from Casterton, chn at Casterton, Sandford 1876-1879 then moved to the Mount Gambier area of South Australia, buried Kalangadoo, SA.)

LYONS : Patrick LYONS 1825-1913, (b. Ireland, arrived at "Dunrobin Station" when it was occupied by W. MURRAY in 1841, shepherd with Tom CASEY when he was killed by aborigines, married Margaret Jane COUGHLAN in 1848, 3 known ch'n, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

McCONACHY : Samuel George McCONACHY 1889-1977 (b. Sandford, Victoria, son of William James McCONACHY and Bessie MILLER, m. Janet LANE, chn at Sandford, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

McCONACHY : William James McCONACHY 1855-? (b. Portland, son of Samuel McCONACHY & Isabella REID, m. Bessie MILLER in 1881, chn at Sandford 1882-1891, Bessie buried in the Sandford Cemetery in 1930, when & where did he die..........?)

McDONALD : Agnes McDONALD 1828-1888 (b. Scotland, dau of William McDONALD & Janet SKIRVING, m. James ELLIS in 1853 at "Sandford Station", large family in the Penola area of South Australia, died at Lake Mundi.)

McDONALD : Jessie McDONALD abt.1844-1895, (b. ____, m. 1861 to John "Johnny" HOLT, shoemaker of Wando Vale in the 1850s, probably the Mr HOLT, 1st teacher at Sandford Common School in 1861, chn at Sandford and South Australia, she appears to have died in Adelaide, SA.)

McEACHERN : William McEACHERN 1814-1895, (b. Morven, Argyll, son of Hugh McEACHERN & Mary Margaret STEWART, arrived Sydney in 1839, arrived Casterton in 1842, appointed manager of "Spring Bank" Station for John PEARSON who occupied it in Dec 1841. William m. Mary Elizabeth HOLDEN in 1856, operated "East Strathdownie" Station for many years before leaving for NSW in 1886 where he died in 1895.)

McLELLAN : William McLELLAN 1838-1871, b. Ayrshire, Scotland, son of John McLELLAN & Mary Ann STEWART, m. in 1858, Scotland to Catherine McARTHUR, brother of John McLELLAN, ch'n in Scotland & Sandford, died after a buggy accident, buried at Sandford.

McPHERSON : John McPHERSON 1851-1907, (b. Branxholme, son of James McPHERSON & Anne McKINNON, m. 1874, Merino to Mary Jane BALFOUR, chn at Sandford & Casterton 1874-1896, his wife d. 1898, John was a farmer of Merino in 1874, his wife died at Casterton in 1898 and John died at Natimuk in 1907 [BUTLER was key second name for many of the chn.])

MAHONY : Bessie MAHONY (nee O'DONOVAN), later Bessie DAVIES of Western Australia, cousin of Ellen IRVINE (nee CLEARY) of Sandford, Vic. was left £100 in Ellen's will of 1903.
"The West Australian" (Perth, WA) Tuesday, 13th September 1904. - LEGAL - IN the WILL of ELLEN IRVINE, Deceased, one time Widow of JOHN COX, Deceased. BESSIE MAHONY or BESSIE DAVIS, formerly of Sandford, Victoria, will hear of something to her advantage if she will please communicate with Richard Bolton, Casterton, Victoria, Barrister and Solicitor.

MILES : Bridget MILES 1853-1935, (b. Ireland, m. 1871, James Mason SHEPHERD, large family at Sandford, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

MILES : Jane MILES 1818-1899, (b. England, m. 1850, Henry KIPPING, chn in England & South Australia, Henry a Boundary Rider on "Pieracle Station", buried along with Henry and some chn in the Sandford Cemetery.)

NEALL : Samuel NEALL ~1820-1886, (b. ____, son of William NEALL & ___, m. to Charlotte CURL, chn in England & South Australia, Carrier with a wagon and horse team at Sandford, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

NEWTON : James NEWTON 1833-? (b. Cheshire, England, son of ___, m. Sophia Matilda ABBOTT, 1855 at "Merino Downs" Station, chn at Sandford 1857-1862. When and where did James NEWTON die?)

PESKETT : Richard PESKETT, 1835-1921, (b. Sussex, son of Peter PESKETT & Martha HARWOOD, m. Martha Jane TYRER from Kangaroo Island, brickmaker on many of the Pastoral Stations in the Casterton district, one of his children registered at Sandford in 1866, buried in the Casterton Cemetery.)

POWER : Martin POWER 1839-1972 (b. Ireland, son of ___, m? ___, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

POWER : Mary Ann POWER ~1829-?. (b. Ireland, dau of John POWER & Bridget NOLAN, m. 1853, "Cashmere Station" to William DUFF, 3 chn at Wando Vale and "Spring Bank" Stations in the 1850s. William disappeared, reported to have been taken by aborigines, Mary Ann m2. 1862 to William DAVEY, m3. 1877 to George HERBERT. Where did she go to....?)

ROSE : William Edwin ROSE 1837-1914, (b. Maidstone, Kent, son of Edwin Rose & Martha HERNDREN, Groom at "Retreat" Station when he married Emma LEAR at Sandford in 1860, chn in the Casterton area and Learmonth, near Ballarat, d. Ballarat.)

ROULSTON : John James ROULSTON 1840-1935, (b. Ireland, son of Oliver ROULSTON & Catherine HUNTER, m. Ireland, to Jane McCLINTOCK, brother of Robert James, chn at Branxholme, moved to Henty in the 1870s, buried Sandford Cemetery.)

SAMPSON : Caroline SAMPSON 1828-1912, b. England, dau of Francis SAMPSON & Mary HUMPHRIES, m. in England to Charles HUMPHRIES and she was the matriarch of the large HUMPHRIES family of "Gum Creek", Henty, 15 chn from 1846-1871, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.

SHARAM : Christopher SHARAM 1813-1890, (b. Devon, England, son of John SHARAM & Mary LAKE, m. 1848, Portland, Victoria to Ellen PATCHING 1833-1910. Christopher was employed by John HENTY at "Sandford" Station by 1846 as a bootmaker & Hut Keeper before he married and established himself at Penola, South Australia where he had a family of 15. Christopher & Ellen SHARAM are buried at Penola, SA.)

SOMERVILLE : Robert SOMERVILLE 1858-1927, (b. Glasgow, Scotland, son of Alexander SOMERVILLE & Mary THOMSON, arrived with his sister Violet in 1870, m. 1891 to Mary Ann Elizabeth DAY of Sandford 1871-1932, large family at Casterton.)

SOUTHERN : George SOUTHERN 1836-..?.., b. 1836 Staffordshire, England, m. in 1862 at Portland, S-W Victoria to Unity CORRIE c.1839-1908, b. Co Tyrone, Ireland. George was the Innkeeper "Sandford Hotel" c.1870 & "Woolpack Inn" Digby, c.1873, George has not been tracked after 1878..............? His wife Unity took over the "Woolpack Inn" until it burnt in 1887, for which she was gaoled for arson.

STOCK : Thomas STOCK 1876-1900, (b. Sandford, son of John STOCK & Christina McLENNAN, served in the Boer War and was KIA, 1900 Rensberg, South Africa. Named on the Boer War Memorials in Casterton, Ballarat, Hamilton & Canberra.

STORIE : William STORIE 1833-1922, (b. Scotland, son of Thomas STORIE & Mary NESBIT, m. 1857, Eliza ANDISON in Scotland, chn at Portland and Sandford, buried along with a number of chn in the Sandford Cemetery.)

TARBATH : Harold William TARBATH 1895-1971, b. Birmingham, England, son of William TARBATH & ___ CRUMP, labourer for I FINDLAY at Sandford in 1915 when enlisted for WW1 service with the AIF. Awarded the MID & MSM for service during WW1. RTA and died in Melbourne.

TAYLOR : Isabella TAYLOR, 1794-1876, b. Scotland, dau of George TAYLOR & Mary LOW, m. David HUTCHESON in Sct, ch'n in Scotland, emigrated as a widow with children to Van Diemen's Land in 1833 and then to "Runnymede" Station near Sandford in 1845, buried in the Sandford Cemetery.

TAYLOR : John TAYLOR 1813-?, b. Manchester, England, m. 1857 at Sandford to Ann McEACHERN 1805-1895, dau of Donald McEACHERN & Sarah McMILLAN. Ann is buried in the Merino Cemetery. John TAYLOR was a Widower, Shoemaker, aged 44y of East Strathdownie in 1857 and he .................?

TURNBULL : "Tailor" TURNBULL, abt.1810-..?.., (b. ___, a "tailor" named TURNBULL lived on a bend of the Wannon River south of Sandford in the 1840s, along with Dr BYASS and William ROGERS (bootmaker). Who was this tailor named TURNBULL..............?)

TYLER : Mary Jane TYLER 1870-1933, (b. Sandford, dau of William TYLER & Matilda Sophia ABBOTT, son John TYLER at Dergholm who was awarded a MM in WW1 with the 38th Battalion, AIF, m. 1904, John GOODWIN, buried in the Casterton Cemetery.)

TYRER : Martha Jane TYRER 1837-1884, (b. Kangaroo Island, dau of William Henry Ormsby Little TYRER & Mary CONNOLLY, sister of Ellen, m. 1858 to Richard PESKETT, brickmaker on many of the Pastoral Stations in the Casterton district, one of their children registered at Sandford in 1866.)

TYERS : Julia Sophia TYERS 1853-?, (b. 1853, Port Albert, Victoria, dau of Captain Charles James TYERS, RN, the surveyor who fixed the SA / Vic border at the Mouth of the Glenelg River near Nelson in 1839 and his wife Georgina Caroline SCOTT. Julia Sophia TYERS m. Charles BURNIP, and had children who lived at or were associated with Sandford, 2 chn buried in the Sandford Cemetery.)

WALKER : Thomas WALKER ~1820-1872+, (built the first Sandford Hotel in 1856 in partnership with Joseph HAGGESTTON, license issued in 1857, perhaps until as late as 1872. HAGGESTTON & WALKER along with Hugh GLANCY also held the "Rifle Ranges" Pastoral Lease in 1859. Thomas WALKER owned a house in Sandford from 1857-1872. Where did he go ..............?)

WARDLEY - WARDELL, Capt., (may have been Capt. George WARDELL, 28th Lancers, d. by 1862, widow died at "Muntham" Station in 1868. He purchased the "Sandford Hotel" from HAGGESTTON & WALKER for a short while c.1858 and then sold it to Pat HYLAND, Overseer for the HENTY family c.1859.)

WATSON, Margaret, 1827-1914, (b. Scotland, dau of Richard WATSON & ___, m. David DRUMMOND, chn at Geelong, Sandford & Coleraine, her husband David was drowned along with some of their children in the Coleraine flood of 1870.)

WESTON, Mary Sarah, 1812-1877, (b. London, dau of John WESTON & Jane SIMMONDS, m. Dr. Caled RADFORD in London, he was a Doctor & Surgeon in the Casterton, Sandford & Merino area from at least 1863-1888, died at Carapook in 1877, where her son Caleb RADFORD was teaching.)

WHEATER, James Henry, 1823-1880, (b. Yorkshire, England, son of James WHEATER & Mary ___, m. Charlotte GIDDENS, chn at Coleraine & Macarthur, Charlotte buried in the Sandford Cemetery in 1886. James WHEATER, an old brickmaker died near "Muntham" in 1880.)

WHITFIELD, Eliza, c.1809-1893, (b. ___, dau of Capt Francis WHITFIELD & Charlotte MEARES, m. 1837 John HENTY, settled at "Merino Downs" in 1837, moved to "Sandford House" in 1842, moved to Warrnambool & Bolwarra, John left his family and went to Western Australia in 1866 where he died in 1868, Eliza d. Melbourne.)

WILLIAMS, David John, 1861-? (b. Portland, Victoria, son of William WILLIAMS & Anne SULLIVAN, m. 1887, South Australia to Winifred Mary MURPHY, chn in South Australia & Sandford, left the area after 1904..................?)